This invention relates to a steering axle for track-guidable commercial vehicles, particularly buses.
A steering axle of this type, known as a rigid axle, is disclosed in German Patent Document DE-OS 37 04 5 12. In this axle construction, the steering arms, which are rigidly connected with the steering knuckles, extend opposite to the driving direction. Accordingly, the tie rod, the ends of which are pivotally connected to the steering arms, is situated on the end of the axle opposite that which bears the supporting arms for the track guiding of the commercial vehicle.
Each of the supporting arms carries a cross guiding roller. During the drive along a track guiding path, the wheel guiding lateral forces are transmitted by way of the track guiding rollers on their track-determining cross-guiding webs, to the supporting arms extending from the axle knuckles in the driving direction. As a result of the lateral forces, and the substantial length of the supporting arm sections extending in the driving direction, bending moments are generated which require a large supporting arm cross-section and a correspondingly heavy supporting arm. The weight proportion of the supporting arms in the unsprung axle mass is therefore considerable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a steering axle of the generic type described above, which requires low construction expenditures, and for which the weight of the supporting arms can be reduced considerably.
This object is achieved according to the invention, in which the steering arm assigned to a wheel carrier and the supporting arm form a common component, and the tie rod takes over the support of the lateral guiding forces transmitted by the track guiding rolls to the supporting arms. This eliminates equipping the axle supports with a special steering arm, and the tie rod, which is pivotally connected with the supporting arms and absorbs the lateral guiding forces, permits a correspondingly slender supporting arm construction which therefore reduces its weight. The wheel carriers may be assigned to an independent wheel suspension or to a rigid axle respectively.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.